No One Touches The Lady

"My Lord?"

It was Caelum Montero, one of the more youngish knights in Van Merikh's close-knit circle, standing in the entry of the Great Hall.

Lyall and Van Merikh were seated towards the far end, where a massive hearth burnt brightly from their liege's fire, spitting smoke and sparks into the upper portions of the hall.

The gallery was cloaked in silver fog as the two men stood hunched over an oak stable, studying a vellum map.

It was Van Merikh's map of conquest, one that he studied religiously, for it showed him where he was and what other goals he had yet to accomplish.

It was marked with specific locations, showing his captured castles and outposts.

Studying the map has become a nightly ritual for him and his knights.

"Speak," Van Merikh ordered, lifting his head up from the map. "What is it, Caelum?"

The young knight jabbed a thumb in the direction of the bailey, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"The lady," Caelum started, scratching his chin. "She broke the ice and tried to bring down the corpse of that knight from the spike. She bit me when I grabbed her, so I threw her and the lot of them servants into the vault."

Van Merikh arched a brow questioningly, looking at Caelum as if he didn't quite believe what the young knight was spouting. Just moments ago, Lady Karina was tended to by his surgeon, so how could she possibly be out and about?

Slowly, very slowly, he straightened up and offered his full attention to Caelum.

"That is entirely impossible," Van Merikh said flatly, suspecting that the young knight might have had too much booze to drink. "The last I had seen the lady, she was unconscious on her bed as the surgeon treated her wound. There is no possibility that she was...

"I know, my Lord, but she was just as unruly as she was before," Caelum insisted. "She brought a few other servant women with her to bury that dead knight."

"It would have been far better if you allowed me to kill her," Lyall grumbled from across the table. "If you do not put an end to her unruliness at the earliest, it will only bring us unnecessary trouble."

"We have never allowed women to be within our installations and within good reason too," Lyall continued, making a gesture with his hand. "Why have you deviated from that practice now?"

While Lyall could escape without consequence for his bold tongue most of the time, Van Merikh did not take well to havig his actions and decisions questioned.

Orpheus Van Merikh did as he pleased.

He shifted his gaze to his second in command, his two-coloured eyes simmering with fury.

"If you dare to question what I do again, you will share the same fate as those knights outside on the pole," Van Merikh rumbled. "Is that clear?"

Lyall knew his liege was not bluffing; the man never bluffed.

"It is, my Lord," he replied without fear.

Van Merikh's piercing gaze lingered on Lyall for a moment longer before he turned back to Caelum.

"You have confined her in the vault, you say?"

Caelum nodded. "Aye. I smacked her well and good when she bit me, the damn wench."

Van Merikh did not receive that bit of news well. He moved away from the map, marching straight for Caelum.

The young knight blinked in confusion, but any sort of question that he had next quickly died on his lips when Van Merikh gripped him by the throat. He could feel the layer of ice emitting from his liege's hand, threatening to freeze him.

"Do not lay your hands on what is not yours," Van Merikh warned, his grip tightening enough that he could snap Caelum's neck with ease. "The lady is not to be touched again; do I make myself clear?"

"Aye…" Caelum forced out a reply with a strangled breath, trying to pry away his liege's hand.

When Van Merikh finally released him, Caelum instantly rubbed his throat and inhaled a deep breath. Lyall observed in silence but showed no reaction.

Van Merikh promptly left the Great Hall with Lyall and Caelum in tow. The three descended the old wood and iron steps, crossed the bailey under a blanket of stars, and took the narrow, mossy stairs from the ground floor of the gatehouse into the depths of the vault below.

It was rather dark except for a single torch burning in an old iron sconce. And it hardly lit the vault with its two large cells.

Off to his left, Van Merikh could see a few figures huddled together in one of the cells; it was the same cell Lady Karina had been detained in earlier that day.

And now she was right back in it.

He grabbed the key off the wall and opened the gate.

As usual, Van Merikh's mighty presence sucked up most of the air in the space. While the three servants cowered, Lady Karina sat on the old straw, her hand resting on her swollen cheek where Caelum had struck her.

She gazed up at Van Merikh with baleful eyes.

A part of him wanted to reach out and soothe the sting on her cheek, but he knew better than to give into such stupidity.

Her met her gaze, wondering if Lyall had been right with his words earlier, but in the same breath, Van Merikh was strangely glad to see her.

Two of his knights had hurt her within one day and he didn't like it one bit.

"It seems you have landed yourself back into the vault," Van Merikh said in his deep, intimidating baritone as icy air seeped from his body. "Explain your actions, Lady."

The entire left side of Lady Karina's face was swollen and red where Caelum had slapped her. She kept her right hand over it to soothe the throbbing; her left arm had limited mobility due to the pain from her wound.

And seeing Van Merikh did little to stop her anger.

"We wanted to bury Sir Dane," she murmured so softly that he barely heard her.

"Speak up, Lady," Van Merikh commanded.

Her pretty emerald eyes flashed. "I said that we wanted to bury Sir Dane," she spoke, louder. "I do not see what reason there is for you to leave his corpse to be devoured by vultures. He was simply defending his post and has done nothing to warrant such disrespect from you."